


As the Clock Turns

by Kakushigo



Series: Umino Effect [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fix It Fic, Gen, I feel like I should clarify that Kakashi/Iruka is two places, M/M, Multi, Other, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix It, aka fixing chapter 700, and a few other things, and present Iruka/Kakashi (though that takes a while), but not Iruka, not past Iruka/present Kakashi, past Iruka is too old for this shit, past Iruka/Kakashi, poor Iruka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2018-10-20 10:51:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10661049
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kakushigo/pseuds/Kakushigo
Summary: Iruka fought the Juubi.  He survived.  And now his chakra is a little messed up, but he still plans on saving Naruto and Konoha.  He just has to figure out how.  And knowing when he is would be pretty nice too.





	1. Awaken to the Past

He felt like hell.  That was the first thing he noticed when he woke up.  The light burned his eyes as he forced them open and he saw the sun peeking through the great Konoha canopy.  With a groan, he turned over and retched.  Nothing but bile came up and it seemed like every bone in his body screamed exhaustion.  His tired and grimy eyes caught sight of his hands and he heaved again, but this time nothing came up.   

He didn’t even know if he’d succeeded, but he’d guess so since he didn’t think he was dead.  There was a distinct lack of giant Juubi as well. The fact that he still had the seals on his chakra coils was worrying, as they should’ve faded.  Carefully, he got to his feet and saw that his clothes were gone.  Guess it was time to test his ability to perform jutsu.  Carefully, he performed the seals for a henge and nearly passed out again when pain bloomed behind his eyes.  As it was, he dropped to the grass- the newly dead grass.  Yeah, he’d fucked up and badly.  For some reason he wasn’t drawing from his personal reserves but from natural chakra.  No wonder he was in so much pain, as normal humans simply couldn’t process natural chakra in their coils.  He had to figure out how to fix this.  Perhaps if Jiraiya was still alive…  Using a tree, he carefully got to his feet again.  At least the henge was holding.  He needed to get out of here and acquire some real clothes.  A henge wouldn’t hold forever. 

Iruka eyed the tree branches enviously, then decided he was safer on the ground.  There were some things that he simply wasn’t going to risk.  And right now, using chakra wasn’t safe.  He picked his way through the forest, trying to figure out if he was even in Fire Country.  It seemed like it was, but Fire Country wasn’t the only place with large forests like this, unfortunately.  

He didn’t get as far as he would have liked, having to stop for food and because his body was protesting his movement.  He wasn’t in his prime, not by a long shot.  He’d already outlived most ninja. People like him weren’t supposed to live to get old, even at chunin rank.  The lack of chakra wasn’t helping.  He can feel it, like he always can, but he can also feel the nauseous pull of the chakra all around him.  

Since his head was pounding and he couldn’t use his chakra like he’s used to, he made the best shelter he could and ate the few plants he found that weren’t poisonous.  It’s not the best, but it’d do for now.  Once he crawled into the shelter, he passed out.

He wasn't quite sure when he made up his mind to head for Konoha, but he didn't really regret it.  He needed to be there if he was to change anything.  There had been a time when he was tempted to go after Orochimaru,  Kaguya,  Tobi, and the Akatsuki by himself, but he knew realistically that he wouldn't be able to do anything, especially without being able to access his chakra.  He wasn't a taijutsu expert like Rock Lee or Might Guy. He'd been well rounded in everything with a little more practice in genjutsu.  Now he couldn't even do a simple henge.

The first village he came across was thankfully civilian, and he was able to barter for some clothes with a little work.  They were happy to have a strong man do some work- he might not be much for a shinobi, but he made a more than decent civilian.  They even fed him and gave him shelter.  

It was here that he found out he was still in the Land of Fire, but several day's walk from Konoha.  There was a road most of the way though, and the people assured him there were many more villages along it.  It'd get harder to find odd jobs to do the closer he got to Konoha, but he was sure he could manage.  Failing that, he could always go back to foraging.  It wasn't the most pleasant or filling of meals, but it would be sufficient for what he needed.  

It was actually three villages before he was able to access a mirror and he gasped quietly when he saw himself.  The black seals were stark, even against his deeply tanned skin.  His brown hair was streaked grey and hanging down at his shoulders.  Numerous scars crossed his visible skin, just a few shades lighter.  A burn peeked out along his shoulder.  He looked like a ninja, and not one that had been working desk and Academy posts during his life.   His hands came up and brushed the scar along his nose- the most distinguished part about him.  Thankfully, a lot of ninjas had such scars, so probably no one would compare him to the current Iruka, should there be one.  He knew he'd traveled back in time, but he honestly still didn't know how much.  It was hard to covertly ask around, since most people didn't give years.  He knew it was summer though, that part wasn't hard to guess.  In Konoha, he was just going to buy a calendar, since this far out they didn't quite have those kinds of shops.

Progress was slow, but he eventually made it to Konoha.  He'd acquired a few friends and possessions along the way, and stared up at the large gates with a little trepidation.  Before now, the gates had always seemed like a friendly thing, until they were burned to a husk- then they were just sad.  Now he was scared of them.  He knew that villages accepted civilians and ninjas alike to their number, but he didn't know if Konoha would accept him specifically.  He hoped so, or else his plans would get a little difficult.

He walked up to the gates and bowed to the guards.  "Hello," he greeted them formally, "I'm  Umuzara Iruka, I am here to petition for citizenship within Konoha."

The jounin guard grinned up at him and he seemed faintly familiar to Iruka.  "Citizenship, huh?  Well, Umazara-san, would that be civilian or ninja citizenship?"

He could feel them covertly prodding his chakra and he honestly had no idea what they'd find.  His coils were probably a mess.  "At this time, I'm looking for a civilian citizenship, but should my chakra be restored, I would happily serve Konoha as a member of its ninja."  The best truth was often a half-truth, especially since he was telling it to jounin.  If he lied, they'd know.  

The jounin nodded and handed him a paper.  "You'll need to go to the Hokage's Tower to fill this out.  Are you currently a resident of Konoha or another Hidden Village?"

"I am not." Iruka answered honestly.  His Konoha was long destroyed.  "I have no citizenship."

"Why Konoha?"  The jounin asked, obviously fishing for information.

"I have belonged nowhere for a long time,"  Iruka answered, "and I hear Konoha is quite nice.  Not a big fan of sand."  He shrugged.  "I didn't quite pull it out of a hat.  And I figured if anyone could help me figure out what's up with my chakra, it would be here."  Information offered freely. There was a fine balance between desperate and weary, Iruka didn’t care what he was seen as.

The jounin appeared interested, but that could all be part of the routine.  "Oh?"

"I need a seal expert.”  And he did, especially if he wanted to ever use his chakra again.  He rolled up his sleeves as far as he dared, showing the unfaded ink of the seals.  “Konoha has the best of what's left."  Uzushiogakure had the best, but they were long dead.  

Now the interest was genuine.  "Who did that to you?  It's pretty impressive work."

"I don't know his name."  An interesting way to phrase it, but Iruka was good.  "But I can describe him for you, if you'd like."  He put his gloves back on and rolled down his sleeves, hiding the ink again.

"We'll ask later."  The other jounin said, drawing Iruka's attention to him.  He'd noticed both of them, but he was supposed to be a ninja without formal training at best, so he'd ignored the other until now.  This one, he recognized.  It was Asuma.  "For now, follow me."

"Yes, sir."  Iruka bowed politely, then followed after Asuma.  He recognized the path they were taking to the Hokage Tower, it was a rather indirect one.  But of course, if he was an enemy nin, taking him directly there would be a bad idea.  Iruka walked beside Asuma, letting the other guide him through the village.  He was getting a slightly better idea of when this was, the four heads on the Hokage mountain being the biggest giveaway.  And he was talking to Asuma.  It was a polite interrogation, someone less trained might not even recognize it for what it was.  Iruka answered as honestly as possible, which was easy enough to do when Asuma had been asking what he had been up to recently.  

"Where were you born?"  Asuma asked, taking another turn away from the Tower.

"The Land of Fire, actually."  Iruka answered with a chuckle.  "But when my parents died, my aunt and uncle moved away, they couldn't take the reminder.  They eventually passed as well and I wandered a bit, picked up things to protect myself."

"What do you plan on doing here?"

"I've got skills.  At worst, I can be an unskilled laborer.  I'm sure someone needs their roof redone or gutters cleaned.  Perhaps start a garden.  I just like the idea of belonging somewhere.”  He needed to be here, there wasn’t another village in the world for him.  “And having a safe place to sleep."  Ever since the Akatsuki had declared war, there’d been no where safe.

"You mentioned you knew some ninja arts?"

"The basics.”  Iruka explained.  Hopefully, they’d pass him off as not quite genin level.  Ninja who were completely unaffiliated tended to lack in skills when compared to the formally trained variety.  “Henge, clone- that sort of things.  I don't know where exactly I'd stand in a fight, especially right now."

Asuma smiled and changed out his cigarettes, the last one burned out.  "Yes, you mentioned your chakra was messed up."  

At least Asuma didn't bring up the fact that it felt really messed up.  Iruka carefully pulled off one his gloves again, showing Asuma the black lines twisting across his hands.  "I don't know what they were trying to do, but my chakra is a mess.  Whenever I try to use it, I throw up and it saps my energy.  I used to have excellent control, so it's rather worrying."  Asuma might’ve been there earlier, but he was aiming for them to underestimate him.  It was just generally safer that way.  

Asuma made a show of examining his hands.  “I’m afraid sealing is a dying art.  What makes you think Konoha can help you?”

Iruka had to be careful with what he revealed now.  “I’ve heard stories.  And even if you can’t help me get my chakra back, I’m safer here than I was wandering.”

“You mentioned someone else gave them to you.  Are you afraid you’re being pursued?”

“I know I am.”  He certainly hoped the Juubi couldn’t follow him, but he didn’t know.  “I didn’t leave the artist on friendly terms after all.”

“How did you escape?”

It was now that Iruka was grateful for the time he’d had before he arrived in Konoha.  He’d rehearsed the story forward, backwards, sideways.  It was his story now.  “Another one of the experiments helped me escape.  They weren’t with me when I woke up at the edges of the Land of Fire, so I don’t know what happened to them.  They could control wood and said they came from Konoha.”  It’s a risk to use that story, but it’s also one so outlandish that someone actually trying to infiltrate Konoha wouldn’t actually use.  Everyone knows that the Senju clan is dead and there is no one who can actually manipulate wood left alive.  Yamato, after all, isn’t common knowledge.  He is also probably not very old, since this is obvious before the chunin exams.

They’re now at the base of the Hokage Tower, but Iruka is still looking at Asuma.  He grins and gestures up,  “Here we are!  They’ll take your official statement, get papers and all that.”

Iruka nods and bows.  “Thank you.”  He’ll find out exactly how much Konoha believes soon enough.  In the meantime, he has some papers to fill out.  How wonderfully ironic.


	2. Tick Tock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iruka tries, and fails, at the whole 'blending in' thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, I totally made up the concept of wild nin. They're ninja born outside a village (different then missing nin) and are generally considered to be less adept then village nin. 
> 
> Also the pictures at the beginning & end of this chapter are courtesy of http://irregularinertia.tumblr.com/post/160086978494/i-love-time-travel-fics (and you can thank them for the update because finding that kicked me in the butt and I started writing these all again.)
> 
> Also say hello to a lot of OCs. I love OCs, but canons will show up again. 
> 
> If you're wondering when Iruka is, he arrived two years before the Uchiha massacre so one year before the Rookie 9 start the Academy (and a year earlier then Iruka arrived in "Life, Again" if you're reading both of them at the same time). I feel like I should apologize for how info-dumpy this is. Short, but dense. Dense exposition should be done by next chapter.

Adjusting to the 'new' Konoha was interesting, to say the least.  Though he had figured out when he had arrived- far before the Chunin exams that had driven Orochimaru to return to the village and the death of Sarutobi.  Wherever younger Iruka was (probably teaching at the Academy), he had no idea that a war was coming. None of them did. Asuma hadn't yet left to become a guard of the daimyō, since Asuma had shown him around that village when he’d first arrive, so that gave him at least five years until Naruto graduated.   

But Iruka didn’t (and could not) let on that he knew any more then the average wild nin turned domestic.  Technically, he was on probation while the council reviewed his application for citizenship, but he'd already had his 'interview' with T&I, so he thought his chances were good.  And he thanked his lucky stars that having a Yamanaka search the head of every applicant to the village wasn't a thing- Iruka could lie his ass off but it wouldn't change what a Yamanaka could see.  And it seemed someone else was looking out for him, since his interrogator hadn't even been Ibiki. If anyone would've figured out Iruka had time traveled, it'd be his old jounin sensei. And Ibiki was the only one who knew all his tells.  While Iruka was trying to keep his story as honest as possible, there were some things he simply had to fudge. And while there were things he was allowed to fudge (and had purposefully given himself tells for- even a wild nin wouldn't tell someone _everything_ , after all), but not the big things- which was what he was blatantly lying about.

While Iruka was waiting for his citizenship to change from 'provisional' to 'actual citizen,' he lived in a halfway apartment complex with other provisional citizens, including a civilian family he had ended up the de-facto babysitter for.  They had two children- one older female teen and then a less than a year old son. It was the son Iruka ended up baby-sitting all the time. The civilian family had actually come from Suna and were weapon smiths.

Iruka found them quite easy to get along with and didn't mind looking after their son, though it was the first time he'd interacted with civilian children rather than ninja children.  Somu, though, was young enough that he didn't know the difference and mostly required being held, fed, and having his diaper changed. From General in the Allied Shinobi Army to babysitter- someone would've laughed but Iruka liked kids and he liked the Mizara family.  Of course, other civilians kept their distance, since they knew he had been a ninja and considered him dangerous. The few other ninja applying for Konoha citizenship also gave him a berth because they weren't quite sure what to do with a ninja like Iruka who wasn't like them in many ways- chakra binding would make anyone feel helpless and ninjas were insatiable gossips, so they all knew what the seals on Iruka supposedly did.  (In many ways, Iruka was glad there were very few people who understood more than rudimentary fūinjutsu, because his cover story would've been blown wide open if they understood what was on his skin.)

And so, he was the Mizara babysitter for nearly a whole year before the good news came- both him and the whole Mizara family were accepted as Konoha citizens.  He has expected that to be the last of knowing them, since they would go their own ways. But the civilians continued to baffle him, casually inviting him into their home and daily lives.  What had started out as an offer ‘until he got back on his feet’ extended indefinitely, to the point where Somu and his sister, Junko, called him their jiji, though Iruka didn’t think he was that old.   

The Mizaras had managed to secure prime real estate in the shopping district, near the other shinobi supply shops.  Their living quarters were in the three stories above- even when Iruka was making his largest paycheck on missions, he'd never be able to afford something like this.  Iruka couldn't remember if the Mizaras had a weapon's shop last time around- their specialty was swords, sais, and weaponry along that line, while Iruka personally preferred something with a bit more distance to it, only reverting to hand to hand or close combat when nothing else was possible.  Kakashi, before he had died, made sure Iruka knew how to use a sword but that was just Kakashi's tantō and it had been late in the war. Iruka had just been planning on staying a bit before settling down on his own but Mrs. Mizara ("Please, call me Mao." she'd insisted and Iruka, ever polite had agreed and extended the same courtesy to her) managed to to convince him to stay.  Neither her, her husband, nor Junko knew about making ninja weapons, despite having lived in Suna for a while. Granted, Iruka didn't know much more- but he did know more about being a ninja then any of the Mizaras, even as a wild nin. And while, again, Iruka was by no means a fūinjutsu master but he knew the basics. And those basics were enough to improve excellent quality weapons into excellent ninja weapons.

And during his year in the limbo of being a provisional citizen of Konoha, Iruka learned that his brand new tattoos might have taken away a very important part of himself but they'd given him a gift.  He could see chakra, when he concentrated.

The first time it had happened had been an accident.  He’d been baby sitting Somu, as was the tradition while the Mizaras did their shopping, when he’d startled at the sight of something in the baby.  Faint tendrils of green, growing stronger with Somu’s discontent. He hadn’t understood it at first, but he refused to allow himself to be wrongfooted by it, and simply accept that sometimes Somu was green until he finally understood it.  Which had happened when he saw the white chakra in the trees.

Natural chakra was easiest to see (and it was without exception white), but ninjas had distinctive patterns that with a little concentration it was easy to see. It was amusing that civilians, of all things, were brightest.  They had wild chakra, untrained, and with their emotions it would ebb and explode. The first civilian's chakra signatures he learned was the Mizara's signatures. Somu's was the brightest- a happy green bubble of chakra unless he was bad or hungry or the multitude of other things babies would become.  Needless to say, Iruka often knew what Somu wanted, even before Somu could talk. And when he looked at himself, he saw nothing. He was a chakraless void in a world where even the sticks and stones were alive. He tried not to let it bother him, especially as he remembered what the cost of the hedge when he'd first come back in time had been- this must be the price for playing with time.  

Iruka ignored his little chakra issue, right up until he was face to face with an Uchiha.  It wasn't one he recognized immediately (which pretty much was...Sasuke and Itachi, as much as he loathed to admit it) but they were browsing the Mizara's shop.  They seemed particularly interested in the blades- the specialty katanas that could be wielded with the left or right hand. Iruka knew Itachi had personally favored a longsword, while he worked for Konoha at least, an unusual weapon for ninjas but of course Itachi had made it work.  Then Itachi had switched to katana when he became a missing nin, or so the reports went, and Sasuke had followed suit. Iruka shook himself out of his revere and watched the ninja while playing with Soma knowing this meant the massacre hadn't happened yet.

Now that Iruka remembered it, he wanted to stop it for mostly selfish reasons.  Itachi had been part of his genin team (as much as it can be called a genin team when there were one newly minted jounin, two chunin, and one genin) and Sasuke had been destroyed by his brother’s betrayal.  Iruka didn’t know the whole story behind the massacre, despite feeling like he always had one hand dipped in politics- he didn’t get into clan politics, having no real clan to speak of. But he knows he lost Itachi after Shisui’s death.  There had been rumors of Itachi faking Shisui’s suicide, but Iruka had never believed it (then again, he hadn’t called Mizuki’s betrayal either…) and Sasuke had said something about the village betraying the Uchiha before he’d rejoined the war fighting for the Allied Shinobi Army alongside Naruto.  They’d died hand in hand. But that nameless Uchiha, who ended up not buying any katana, made Iruka curious again.

As far as Iruka could tell, there was about one year left until Itachi would commit mass murder and leave his baby brother with nothing but vengeance.  And there was Tobi, who wasn’t Tobi or even Madara but rather Obito...but he was getting ahead of himself. He was one old ninja who couldn’t even perform a simple hedge.  So Iruka tended the till, while Junko and her parents kept the forge warm and producing.

Soon enough, the Uchiha became a common sight in Mizaras’ shop and unlike the first one who came, they frequently purchased many items.  Iruka knew most of them by name quickly and Somu took great delight in trying to say their names (thankfully, Somu’s first words were still his parent’s titles, Iruka doesn’t know what they would’ve done if Somu’s first words had been one of the Uchiha’s names) whenever Iruka was ringing up their purchases.  The Uchihas seemed to adore Somu and Somu loved the attention. It didn’t hurt that business was booming. Iruka had even expanded the inventory to include some handmade tag- ones that weren’t just the standard exploding one. The Uchiha police loved the paralyzing ones, Iruka had noticed, and started making more varieties of that.  It was inevitable then, with their revolving clientele of Uchihas, that Iruka would see Itachi and Shisui.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll probably get to go into more details about this in "Life, Again" but...Iruka's 'genin' team was himself, Anko, Itachi and lead by Ibiki. Yeah, it was stacked. They're Team 4 because I couldn't resist jokingly referring to them as the "Team Death." (Also, no wonder Ibiki retired to head the T&I department after leading that team.)


End file.
